Difference between BH and a real contraction?

I've been having BH for weeks now, but I had one tonight that seemed a little different. It hasn't happened again in the last half an hour, but I'm curious if it could have been a real contraction. Normally, with BH, my stomach gets really tight, and hard. Fairly uncomfortable, but not that painful. The one that I had tonight, my stomach hardened and tightened, but the area where little on is, stood out more than it usually did. Also, I had a sharp pain in my pelvis. I've been told that I'll know if it is a real contraction. But, I also wonder, if it was just her position. So, when my stomach hardened if it positioned her where she was on a nerve. Anybody else experience this, or also think it might have just been her position?

I'm a ftm that had prodromal labor for 4.5 days.
When my water broke and I was finally admitted...my contractions felt like the worst pain ever. On Earth. Lol!
Seriously though, they were very painful and felt like a wave. First I.would feel tightening like a bh contraction, but then it would just keep going until it was PAINFUL (opposed to cramps/uncomfortable) and all I could do was concentrate on the contraction and then it wouldtaper down to a cramp and disappear.
Probably not much help...
But I will say my whole stomach tightened up and had a huge lump off to one side. That was where my lo's rump was, plus we.discovered upon delivery that my placenta was super thick up in that one spot so the contraction was stronger there.

My belly bunches up where my lo's back is. My whole belly gets hard, but on one side it's much more prominent. I also have been occasionally getting painful BH. They aren't too bad if I stay still, but if I move it feels like a charlie horse. And it's usually worse on the right side, because that is where my LO is laying. I talked with my MW about it and she said it's all just part of the process. It's been over a week now that this happens so it's not early labor or anything, just prep work!

BH I felt up high, stomach tightened and let loose. When I went into labor, the first few hours the cx's were BH like. When it got closer and I knew it was real cause I felt it hit and it was much lower and the pain was all in my hooha. I couldn't walk when those hit.

I also went through prodromal labor and I have to say I have experienced a wide array of different types of contractions over the last 8 weeks. Some were just the belly hardening BH and some were downright painful and did move me along to 5 cm. Many were even the wave of pressure. But, when I actually went into LABOR, I mean the kind where you know it's time to go and have this baby, it was a fairly constant, very strong and painful contraction. No talking through them. No smiling through them. No wanting to even try to time through them. It was just go and go now. All that day though I experienced off and on strong contractions that were painful just not consistent enough for me to head in . It's not really fun to labor in a hospital... (they don't let you eat)

If in doubt ask, are they consistent and building? Do they keep going if I lay down? With my last they weren't Earth shattering painful until my water broke late into labor so I think the above questions helped me to know when it was time.

For me, they felt like me steal cramps and radiated around from my lower back. I didn't feel the tightness that I felt with bh. People kept telling me that 'I'd just know when it was the real thing' but I still,wasn't sure until I'd been having them for a while!

My contractions...don't seem like BH. They always hurt in my back and cramp for minutes...not seconds. They've been doing this since Thursday.
I'm terrified that I'll get to hospital and I'm already dilated to a 10. But I'm having a csection, sooo what would they do in that incident?

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wife to my best friend. Work at home Momma to my two boys! 11-3-10 & 10-26-12